A conventional electrical harness comprises a plurality of harness subassemblies, each subassembly in turn comprising a plurality of generally parallel electrical conductors which are held together at one location along the length of the subassembly. It is common practice to produce harnesses of the type under consideration by first manufacturing the subassemblies required for the harness and then assembling the subassemblies to each other on a harness board. The subassemblies required are positioned on the harness board by a technician, each subassembly being located in a position corresponding to the position it will occupy in the completed harness. The harness board will ordinarily have some means for temporarily holding the subassemblies in their proper position while the technician places all of the required subassemblies on the board and then binds them together by means of bundle ties or tape.
The assembling method described above requires careful attention on the part of the technician, particularly if the subassemblies are similar to each other as regards length and number of conductors. Furthermore, the process can be time consuming, particularly if one or more of the subassemblies is relatively long. The bundle ties or other binding means must be placed on the harness at precisely the correct locations and this requirement further increases the possibility of error and the production of defective harnesses.
The present invention is directed to a method of assembling electrical harnesses which avoids the disadvantages of conventional harness board assembly methods and which can be carried out with a relatively simple apparatus. The invention is further directed to the achievement of a harness assembling apparatus which is compatible with the use of a robot and which can be integrated with other machines, such as a lead making machine, an insertion machine for inserting the terminals on electrical leads into electrical connectors, and suitable conveyors, in a manner such that completed electrical harnesses can be produced at one work station from the conductors, wires, and connector housings required for the completed harness.